Brave New World (Sequel to That Woman)
by GeeDeeny
Summary: <html><head></head>In the new age of Human and Conduit co-existence, where all have the same rights and opportunities; not everyone is happy or agrees with it all but will gladly take matters in to their own hands. M for language, violence and naughty stuff.</html>
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys!**

**I'll keep it short. I'm calling this sequel to That Woman; **_**"Brave New World."**_** It starts in this chapter a few short months after Delsin outs Augustine and the D.U.P. to the public and tells of how Cat and Delsin get to and beyond the time I wrote in the Epilogue of That Woman. Just tell me what you think guys, I want to know what you think is gonna happen with this. :P I don't want to give too much away, but some people aren't happy with this new age of peace and co-existence…**

**Fave, follow and review folks! I'm gonna start writing more when I can!**

**Peace – Deeny xxx**

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><p>'Delsin. Ahhh DELSIN! PUT ME DOWN HAHA!'<p>

'Are you sure? I mean it's kinda far to the ground.'

'I said put me, hahaha down! Not drop me!'

'Wait, did you just say drop? Okay then.'

Caterina found herself lying face up but on a funny angle in a three foot deep drift of snow. Delsin had decided that halfway through their walk around the reserve; that it was a good idea to pick up his girlfriend, throw her over his shoulder, spin her around for a bit then drop her in a mound of snow.

'You are such a dick sometimes.' Caterina huffed as she tried to roll out of the snow with great difficulty. She had a huge puffy ski jacket on even though she didn't need it but at least it would stop her clothes from getting wet. It was rather constricting and difficult to move in. Caterina could have quite happily walked around in the snow wearing just jeans and a t-shirt, but knowing herself and Delsin when they got going; they would've ended up having a snowball fight or something. And if there was something that Caterina particularly hated more than anything else, then it was being soaked wet through.

Delsin reached down to the embedded, snow-bound Caterina to help her up. She grabbed hold of his hand and yanked him down in to the snow with her, Delsin landed in the snow next to her with a "flump" and started laughing.

'I guess I deserved that.'

'Damn right you did.'

'Ah shit it's cold!'

Delsin and Caterina lay giggling in the snow for a while before they decided it would be a good idea to get up and go home. They had started going out for walks together every morning after breakfast and it gave Delsin the opportunity to indulge in his new hobby of photography; when he remembered his camera, though today he had left it charging on the kitchen worktop. The two Conduits didn't exactly work for a living now, but Caterina was still selling her artwork and Delsin was now selling his; he had taken to doing his style of street art on canvas now instead of buildings and even his photographs were earning him money too. Delsin and Caterina were earning enough money to live comfortably now, doing something they both enjoyed.

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><p>The couple had already been out for about an hour and it didn't take them long to get back home. Caterina had errands to run today so she was eager to get it all done and get back home as soon as possible. She had groceries to buy, packages to send and one to pick up so that meant driving around half an hour away to the next town. It would take her that long at least what with there being bad snowy weather.<p>

'Are you sure you don't want me to drive?' Delsin asked Cat as she was busy tugging her boots back on again. She had ditched the big puffy coat and settled for a more comfortable, lighter jacket.

'I'll be fine. The roads aren't as bad as they were the other day. Besides I was planning on doing some clothes shopping.'

'Oh I'll leave you to it then.' Delsin said as he held his hands up. He hated clothes shopping. The thought of having to linger around in women's clothes shops put him off. 'I have some photos to finish framing for some buyers anyway.'

'Okay then, I'll try not to be too long. I'll have my phone with me.' Caterina replied.

'Here I'll help you with these.' Delsin said as he slipped his shoes back on. Caterina had already stacked up the parcels and boxes she needed to post by the door. Delsin grabbed the mound of boxes and followed Cat outside to the truck where she opened up the passenger door for Delsin to get the boxes in. He shut the door then made his way round to the drivers side where Caterina had already climbed in and started the trucks engine.

'Be careful okay.' Delsin said to Cat as they gave each other a quick kiss.

'I will. Phone me if you need anything.'

'I will. See you in a bit.'

Delsin shut the drivers door and waved to Caterina before he headed back in to the house. Caterina smiled back at him then turned the volume up on the trucks radio then she put on her seatbelt. Shoving the truck in to gear, she slowly edged out on to the main road.

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><p>Caterina soon made it in to town, it took her a little longer than she thought as there were quite a few people on the road driving as carefully as they could. It was still a bit icy, but it was nothing that Caterina couldn't handle. She was in luck though as she had managed to park the truck right outside the post office, so she wouldn't have to walk all the way from the public car park carrying a ton of boxes.<p>

'Sending these the usual way Ms. Mikkola?'

Caterina popped her head around the huge armful of packages she was carrying to find the older gentleman by the name of Jimmy behind the counter. He was the one who usually served her when she brought things in to post.

'Yes please Jimmy.' Cat replied as she pushed everything through the large sliding partition hatch on the counter. Jimmy set to work immediately on weighing every single box and package then putting the appropriate postage label on it. Caterina handed over the money she had to pay for it all.

'I have one to pick up too Jimmy?'

'Oh yes, we need a signature for it. We couldn't leave it at your home yesterday. I'll just go get it for you.'

Caterina nodded in reply. A few seconds later, Jimmy returned with a small envelope and the paper which needed to be signed. Caterina scribbled down her signature to receive the envelope.

'Is that everything for today Ms. Mikkola?'

'That's everything for now. I'll probably be back next week.'

'Okie dokie. See you soon and take care!'

'Thanks Jimmy. You too!'

Caterina left the post office and got back in the truck to drive round to the high street. She threw the envelope on the trucks dashboard. A quick stop at the butchers and the greengrocers had food for the rest of the week sorted and a sneaky trip in to a nice ladies clothing shop meant she now had a more comfortable, lightweight coat to wear in this weather and a new cosy black turtleneck sweater. But Caterina's main stop on the high street was somewhere special. This shop had only been open for a few months now but Caterina was already their best customer. When they first opened, Caterina nearly bought everything in the shop and she had Delsin hooked on most of the things she bought.

It was a British shop and Caterina loved it. Every time she came in to town she would load up on bags of British sweets, biscuits, snacks and drinks. And every week she would surprise Delsin with something new for him to try, as well as buying him some of his new favourites. Caterina also bought boxes and boxes of tea as she had got Delsin in to drinking loads of the stuff like she did. She had even bought a fairly expensive electric kettle shortly after she moved in with him as she had practically burnt the bottom out of the metal stove top kettle they used for boiling water. Delsin had soon caught on to the art of constantly drinking tea. If Caterina wasn't making a cuppa, then he usually was instead.

The rear part of the truck's cab was near full to the brim with bags of shopping. Caterina had had enough of shopping for today so she climbed back in to the trucks and started the engine; giving it a few minutes to warm up before she set off back home. During those few minutes, Cat grabbed the envelope she left on the dashboard and ripped it open, wondering why just a normal letter would have to be signed for.

Caterina read the first few lines of the letter. It was from the Conduit Right League, and for some reason the head honchos were asking to meet with her and Delsin a few weeks from now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys!**

**Thanks everyone for sticking with me for the sequel! It means so much! You guys are awesome! :D**

**On to thanks. Thanks so much to Panda-Chan8, Morbid Crow, lostsoldierS636, shade815, WILLSOFUNNY, ShepardisaBOSS, Felightfire, Unknown Apostate, Jason Grace son of zues, Lupe Rouge, InfamousX07 and Sheity Williams for the faves and follows! :)**

**Now to reviews and comments!**

**Panda-Chan8: Thanks sweetie. I'm glad you're excited for this, so am I! Hope you enjoy this and the upcoming chapters!  
>WILLSOFUNNY: BOOOOM! Here we go! :D<br>Fleightfire: Thank you! I look forward to hearing what you think. :)  
>Jason Grace son of zeus: Thanks for your comments. And I'll see what I can do, I haven't been on here as much as I usually am as I've been really busy. But I'll see what I can do for you. :)<br>MASTER T-REX: We'll soon find out! Thanks. :)**

**Well I hope you all enjoy this cute little chapter. I'm easing us in to the story pretty slowly with some fun, shortish chapters just so we can get accustomed to what's changed and what's to happen. Don't worry it'll all kick off soon! XD**

**As always, thanks again everyone. Don't forget to fave and follow if you haven't done already and please don't forget to leave a message or PM me if you have any thoughts or questions!**

**Peace – Deeny xxxxx**

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><p>'So what do you think of it all?'<p>

Caterina asked Delsin's opinion of the letter she received from the Conduit Rights League. She made him read the letter before they had their dinner that evening.

'Well I suppose we can go meet up with them and see what this is all about.'

'True.' Caterina replied as she mopped up the last of the beef stew gravy from her plate with the last bit of suet dumpling she had on her fork. As soon as she ate the last bite and laid her fork down on the plate; Delsin started to clear the table. He picked up their empty plates and cutlery then stacked everything in the dishwasher in the kitchen before returning to Caterina at the table.

'You make the best meals ever.' Delsin said as he bent down and kissed Cat on the forehead. He took her hand and pulled her up out of her chair then led her over to the sofa. The open plan living area and kitchen was nice and cosy as Delsin had lit the fire earlier on. Tonight would be another night of snuggling on the sofa and channel hopping till they found something they wanted to watch. They eventually settled on watching Mr. Bean as Caterina demanded Delsin stop switching through channels as soon as she saw it.

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><p>A few episodes in to their Mr. Bean marathon, Delsin got up from the sofa and wandered in to the kitchen. Caterina stood up and wandered upstairs to get changed in to her pyjamas. She came back to find that Delsin had put some popcorn and tortilla chips in to bowls and set them down on the coffee table. He was still clanging around in the kitchen so Caterina got herself comfortable again on the sofa.<p>

'Whisky for the lady.' Delsin said as sat himself down next the Caterina and held up a small glass for her with a healthy measure of the amber liquid in it.

'So what am I doing tonight? Toy Soldiers, grenades, penguins?'

'I've had a good think this time, how about… Lego bricks?'

'Shit Delsin you don't make this easy on me.' Caterina chuckled. She cleared her throat and closed her eyes for a second or two as she held her right hand out with her palm facing up. Delsin watched as Cat's hand started to frost up. She kept her eyes closed as she concentrated her power in to forming ice in the shape of Lego Bricks. Delsin and Caterina didn't have much use for their abilities these days especially as they weren't fighting the D.U.P. anymore. But they both tried to keep on top of it all when they got the chance just by doing stupid little things to keep them in practice. Caterina's practicing consisted of trying to form ice in the shape Delsin suggested.

The first few Lego bricks she formed in her hand were a little on the misshapen side, so she re-absorbed them then started again. The second lot looked better but Cat still wasn't happy so she absorbed those ones. Third time lucky and the blocks of ice started to resemble Lego bricks. She smiled as she showed the half dozen ice Lego bricks to Delsin who held his glass out to her. Caterina tipped the bricks in to his glass.

'I wonder if you stood on those ones they'd hurt as much as stepping on the real ones?' Delsin quizzed as he sipped his newly iced glass of whisky.

'You wanna try it out? I can make more?' Cat grinned in reply. Delsin just laughed at her.

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><p>Caterina and Delsin carried on watching more episodes of Mr. Bean whilst munching away on their snacks and sipping their whisky. By the time another episode had finished, Caterina had noticed that it was half past ten in the evening.<p>

'Shall we stick the news on for a bit?' She asked Delsin. He nodded at her and pushed a few buttons on the TV remote, switching it to a news channel.

'… _over the past fortnight as the number of attacks now stands at seven. Three of the attacks which occurred in Boston, Naperville and Beaumont were claimed by the anti-Conduit group "Humans First" while the remaining attacks are still unknown and are currently being investigated. Local police forces are stressing to the public that any suspicious activities must be reported immediately.'_

'Oh my God those dicks again?' Delsin exclaimed. 'These guys need to stop this.'

'These are the people who're going around attacking Conduit owned businesses right? I've seen some of their stupid videos on Facebook, kinda like that hacking bunch that wear those masks. That one guy in the videos does the same kind thing.' Caterina cringed.

'Well nobody knows who this guy is in the videos but they've started calling him the "Dark Enigma" or something stupid like that.'

'Really? The Dark Enigma?' Cat guffawed. 'That sounds really tacky.'

'Yeah you only ever see him wearing dark clothes in the videos and this black mask completely covers his face, so nobody knows who he is at all.' Delsin informed Caterina. 'He doesn't even mention a name he goes by, just says that he's the leader of Humans First.'

A bemused look had appeared on Caterina's face as she grabbed a handful of popcorn.

'Heh, remember they used to call us Bio-terrorists? What a laugh, these guys are full on terrorists.' Caterina remarked.

'I wonder what the CRL think of it all.' Delsin stated. He scooted closer to Cat on the sofa and pinched some of the popcorn out of her hand.

'Same thing as we are probably; that this Humans First lot are a bad bunch. It's only a matter of time before they start racking up kills.'

'Yeah but even so, it's only a matter of time before they encounter a Conduit who will fight back. The shit will hit the fan then.'

Delsin had a point. It had taken a little while for then general human public to acknowledge Conduits as actual people and things were slowly coming in to place after what had happened with the D.U.P. in Seattle. The Conduit Rights League were doing what they could to make sure that Conduits weren't discriminated against and that the regular folk were getting educated on what Conduits are. This was all nationwide now as after the D.U.P. were disbanded; Conduits began to come out from hiding.

'Ahh this is getting depressing. Stick Mr. Bean back on I need a laugh.' Caterina exclaimed. Delsin switched the channel over and immediately started laughing along with Cat as they watched Mr. Bean sat on a park bench making a sandwich.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone!**

**I definitely am making this quick. I've just woken up now because I've not been well again recently. I've caught the flu and I'm only awake now to take more medicine so I can go back to sleep, that and the winds outside are bad thanks to the remnants of that ass-face hurricane Gonzalo which is disturbing me. Being sick sucks. :( I figured I may as well upload a new chapter whilst I'm up, was meaning to do it yesterday.**

**Thanks to Dimension Distorter, Bloodwitch Raven, Blackwolf94 and 1heartgirl for faving and following BNW! Special thanks to Panda-Chan8, Fleightfire, Dimension Distorter, Bloodwitch Raven, beccacarpathia, MASTER T-REX and 1heartgirl for leaving comments. You guys are awesome. I would write more to you individually but I'm just too tired. I'm gonna drown myself in painkillers and cough syrup and hope this damn flu goes away soon.**

**Fave, follow, review and comment folks. You knows I loves ya. ;)**

**Peace – Deeny xxx**

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><p>Caterina grumbled slightly as she woke. She could feel the coldness in the bed beside her as Delsin wasn't there emitting his usual almost furnace like body heat. Caterina did however hear the stairs creaking and the light sound of footsteps in the bedroom.<p>

'Good morning.'

It was Delsin. He had been downstairs and had brought back two mugs of coffee with him, one of which he gave to Caterina as she sat up in bed. Delsin put his mug down on his bedside table and climbed back in to bed where Cat leaned over and kissed him.

'Good morning to you.'

The two Conduits snuggled up together and planned their day out as they drank their coffee.

'So what you up to today?' Delsin asked Caterina as she sipped at her coffee.

'Nothing much I guess. I've got some stuff to frame, that's about it. You've got stuff to frame too huh?' Cat replied.

'Yeah a few things, then I gotta send them off.'

'Y'know we never get any work done when we're both working in the studio together.' Caterina chuckled.

'That's what makes it fun!' Delsin exclaimed.

'Oh remind me I've gotta ring the CRL later on and see what they want.'

'Will do. We going for our walk shortly?' Delsin asked Caterina. Better ask her first before he threw a coat on her and dragged her outside again.

'Hmm I was hoping we'd decided after I make breakfast or something.'

'What are you making?' Delsin blurted out. If there was one thing that would stop him from going for their daily walk, then it was Caterina's breakfasts.

'Um, toffee and blueberry pancakes. We haven't had them in a while.' Caterina answered as she sipped more of her coffee and then rested the mug on her bedside table.

A while later, Delsin and Caterina had eventually made it downstairs after finishing their coffees and finally managing to prise themselves apart from each other. Caterina often laughed to herself about this; she and Delsin were inseparable nearly ninety-nine percent of the time and they were also quite sickening to boot. They were either always holding hands or cuddling each other, sneaking kisses and making eyes at each other.

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><p>A lot of people in Delsin's tribe had noticed this and sometimes mocked him for it but he really didn't care. He was head over heels for Cat and she was with him too. Even everybody in the tribe adored Caterina, she got on well with everyone and was more than willing to help out if she was needed. Sometimes she would go and help out Betty with her paperwork over at the cannery and a few times a month she would even tag along on picnics that some of the adults did for the kids of the tribe. She would sit and draw with them and tell them stories for a while. Even the kids loved her. Delsin was happy that after the past few months, Caterina was fitting in really well considering that she was an outsider.<p>

The young Conduit couple were quite happy with their lifestyle after what had happened in Seattle, even though they did miss a bit of the danger. Everything had settled down in the world fairly quick after the D.U.P. were shown the door. Co-habitation between Conduits and humans was going as smoothly as it could possibly go, of course there were people on both sides who weren't all for it; but most of the time everybody just got on. That all kicked off after the arrest and trial of both Doctor Maynard and Agent Jones who were soon brought in after all of the stuff Caterina's brother had gathered had gone viral.

It had all happened so quickly. Mere weeks after leaving Seattle; Caterina was contacted after the arrest of Maynard and Jones and soon found herself in court as the main witness, what with her being the sole survivor of Doctor Maynard's experiments. The trial was short, too short considering how serious it was. Doctor Maynard was given several life sentences for illegal human experimentation and crimes against humanity. Caterina was happy that he was being sent down and was happy that the judge said that Maynard's wrongdoings were not just against humans, but Conduits too and it would be unfair just saying that it was only his wicked acts against humans that earned him his sentence. Turned out that the Judge's youngest son was in fact a Conduit. Agent Jones however was sentenced for something much simpler; Murder.

It was a start for Conduits though. Many laws had been bent to accommodate Conduits seeing as they were now living alongside humans. Conduits who had severely broken the law after the fiasco in Seattle were handled by the military using technology the D.U.P. used to supress their powers. The Military were supposed to take over anyway after the D.U.P. were disbanded, so it made sense in letting them handle it. It had to work for the time being until something more permanent was arranged.

Knowing that all of that was now in the past even though it only happened a little while ago; it made Caterina think even more about what the Conduit Rights League wanted her for. Sure she had worked with them briefly during the trial but she couldn't understand what they wanted of her now.

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><p>'Jesus Delsin put some pancakes on your syrup.' Caterina cackled at Delsin as she watched him pour far too much maple syrup on his stack of pancakes from a dizzy height. He just laughed a bit then handed Caterina the jug of syrup before he dove in to his pancakes. Caterina drizzled a little bit of the maple syrup on to her own pancakes and scraped a small knob of butter on top before she started eating. She had to admit they were pretty good and it was obvious that Delsin was enjoying his as he was already halfway through the stack.<p>

'Oh, here's that letter. Don't forget to call them.' Delsin said to Cat as he pushed the letter she received from the CRL toward her on the kitchen table.

'I might as well call them now then before I forget.' Said Cat. She reached over to her handbag which was on the kitchen worktop behind her and pulled out her phone. She punched in the number that was on the letter and waited a moment for somebody to pick up.

'Oh, yes good morning it's Caterina Mikkola. I received a letter from you regarding a meeting?'

Delsin finished the rest of his pancakes as he listened to Caterina on the phone. He thought about stealing on of the pancakes she had left on her own plate but she still had her fork in her right hand and he wasn't about to try anything soon.

'Yeah I think we can manage tomorrow afternoon, that's no problem. Yes. Yes, thank you. We look forward to seeing you then. Goodbye.'

'So what did they want?' Delsin asked. He never got to steal one of Cat's pancakes as she dove straight back in as soon as she hung up the call.

'Oh Stacy's in town and she wanted to meet up with us, something about a proposition. The meeting's at three tomorrow afternoon.'

'Did they say what?'

'Nope.' Caterina grumbled. 'Exciting though don'tcha think?'

'I suppose so, we'll see what happens tomorrow huh?' Delsin smiled. He stood from the table and picked up his breakfast plate then picked up Caterina's just as she finished and put them in the dishwasher.

'We going out for our walk now?' Caterina asked Delsin who was stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

'Sure thing. Just let me get my stuff.'

'Hey don't forget your camera like you did the other day.'Caterina called after Delsin, he had ran upstairs to get his coat.

Cat had already wandered over to the front door and sorted herself out with the new lighter coat she had bought and her outdoor boots. Whilst she was waiting for Delsin; Caterina flicked through her Facebook news feed to find that some of her friends and things she was following had posted links to articles and pictures of the Humans First attacks that had happened yesterday. According to some of the posts, two more of the attacks had been claimed by Humans First, bringing the total to five attacks nationwide. Caterina knew it was just a matter of time before the remaining two were claimed by them. She just shook her head in disgust.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys!**

**Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been working every hour God sends recently especially after I was ill a short while ago. Had to have time off work, so now I've been making up for it. Besides, you can't buy Christmas presents with no money!**

**So here's the next chapter. Everything is about to turn sinister pretty soon…**

**Thanks to Dunka99, ScarlettWitchBlack, Gina-B-ookworm, Pitchforkred, crimsonrose211 and killers4all for all the lovely faves and follows! Woo hoooo!**

**Reviews!  
>Bloodwitch Raven: Oh shit will be hitting the fan indeed!<br>Dimension Distorter: Wait and see. :P  
>Fleightfire: Thanks! :D<br>beccacarpathia: Here you go! :)  
>MASTER T-REX: It will develop over time. And don't worry, Fetch and Eugene will be appearing soon!<strong>

**Thanks again everyone. Like always, please fave, follow and leave me a comment or message. I'll try and update sooner this time and hopefully expand more on what's going on. Look forward to hearing from you all! Enjoy!**

**Peace! – Deeny xxxx  
><strong>

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><p>'Ah Caterina, Delsin. It's so good to see you again.'<p>

Caterina and Delsin were shown in to a large meeting room situated on the second level of the Conduit Rights League offices in Seattle. The CRL had two whole floors right at the top of one of the tallest office blocks in the city. The views were staggering up there, but Cat and Delsin weren't there to admire the view.

'It's been too long Stacy.' Caterina replied.

Stacy Pine was the founder of the Conduit Rights League. She was a slender woman of about five foot seven in height, with fair skin and browny-auburn hair that she always had tied up. She was always smartly dressed but never gave off that intimidating business woman vibe. Stacy founded the CRL after her younger sister who was an active Conduit was taken in by the D.U.P. Her entire family was tested by the D.U.P. and most of them checked out to be Conduit gene positive. After her sister's incarceration; Stacy and her family were not allowed to visit at all. Stacy's sister had essentially been locked away forever. And to top it all off the D.U.P. monitored Stacy and her family in case any of them turned active.

The Conduit Rights League was formed soon after by Stacy with the help from several political figureheads, business owners and scientific researchers from across the US in order to help active Conduits and their families deal with the sudden stigma thrust upon them. As many Conduits were subsequently rounded up and incarcerated; this left many families without a part of their lives. Many had lost a person who brought in a pay-check to their household, or even their young sons or daughters. Needless to say, these families were going through difficult times and the CRL were always there to help out financially, legally and emotionally.

'I'll cut to the chase then.' Stacy started. 'The board members and I have been discussing about taking the CRL forward now that we're actually getting somewhere with changes in laws and legislations. What we wanted to ask you both was if you would like to be our spokespersons?'

'Spokes… persons?' Delsin quizzed.

'Yeah for any functions or interviews we may have on the west coast. I try to do what I can and Jason Nakazawa the manager of our New York office covers the east coast.' Stacy replied. 'Jason and I are human though, we really would like some more Conduits on our PR team.'

It went quiet in the meeting room as Delsin and Cat looked at each other slightly puzzled until Cat eventually spoke up.

'Can I ask Stacy, why us?'

'People like you two. With the coverage of what happened in Seattle with the D.U.P. and what you both did in getting rid of them, Conduits weren't the only ones happy to be free from them. You're pretty popular with the normal too.'

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><p>An hour later, Delsin and Caterina found themselves sat in an Italian restaurant just a few blocks down the road from the CRL offices, having an early dinner before they set off back home. Both of them were still fairly taken back by Stacy's offer. She said they could take the time they needed to think it over and decided what they wanted to do. They said they would come and visit her again as she was going to be in Seattle for the next few weeks.<p>

'So we'd be doing some public speaking, TV appearances, commercials and photo shoots for advertising. I think that's everything Stacy mentioned.' Delsin said as he twirled some spaghetti round his fork.

'What do you think of it then?' Caterina asked him in reply, eager to know what he thought of their situation.

'I can see you being on TV and in magazines; you'd be great at it.' Delsin smiled.

'And you think you wouldn't?' Caterina scoffed and grinned as she sipped at a glass of iced water. 'Handsome young man like you, having all the girls fawning over you.'

'I only want one girl fawning over me and I'm looking right at her.' Delsin smirked then laid his hand on top of Caterina's.

'Ooh smooth.' Caterina cackled as she turned her hand over and clasped Delsin's gently. They both laughed a little bit before they carried on eating and talking about what Stacy had proposed to them.

'And what about the other thing she mentioned, the Conduit Camp?' Delsin continued. Caterina smiled almost instantly after he had said it.

'I think that it's a great idea, we should do it.'

'I knew you'd say that.'

Caterina laid her fork down on her plate as she finished chewing on some of her mushroom ravioli.

'I do though! There's been an increase in new active Conduits over the past few years who are children. It's not an easy thing to go through especially when you're young and there's a shit-tonne of other things going on when you're that age too.'

'So you'd definitely join in with the camp thing?'

'A chance to help young Conduits out with their abilities and meeting others like them? Absolutely.'

Delsin had always admired Catarina's passion and enthusiasm especially when kids were involved. She was always great with the children of his tribe and he imagined that she'd be brilliant with Conduit children too. Delsin could understand why she was so great with kids, it was almost like she was going through her own childhood again. Caterina had explained to him that she never really got the chance to be a regular kid what with all the studying and training she did, but she became a Conduit at a young age too and had to grow up quickly after what happened in New Marais.

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><p>'Do they have summer camps in the UK?' Delsin asked Caterina.<p>

'Nope, it's not the done thing back home. Most of the time if a family could afford it, they'd all go on holiday together instead of shipping the kids off to camp for Lord knows how long.'

'So what did you do during the summer months?'

'I trained whenever I could. Sometimes mum would take us abroad for a week or two if she could afford it. Niko was always happy to stay at home though and go out playing with his friends.'

Delsin went quiet for a few moments as he contemplated asking the question he had circling around in his head.

'Do you ever want to go back, to England I mean?'

Caterina looked up and bit her lip in thought before she answered.

'For a visit maybe. I dunno, there's not much there for me anymore. Well, there is dad I suppose but his wife would probably go ape shit if she knew I was a Conduit. If they're still together that is, I don't know.'

'Well if you ever did decide to go back…'

'Don't worry Delsin. I'd take you around and show you the sights.' Caterina smiled. 'I know what you were gonna ask, of course you'd be coming with me you silly bugger.'

Delsin had to laugh at Caterina. He considered himself lucky that he had her. Cat kept him on the straight and narrow. He liked to think that he had matured a bit because of her. Catarina had matured a bit too and had come along leaps and bounds from the psychotic, mute piece of madness she used to be that had tried killing him on a few occasions. Delsin had indeed grown up some and accepted that he had responsibilities now; bills to pay, earning money from something he really enjoyed and a girlfriend he absolutely adored. Delsin was sure that if Reggie was around, then he would be extra proud of his kid brother now.

'Del, what are we having for desert? There's so much on this menu, help me out here 'cause I want everything. I. WANT. IT. ALL.'

Caterina though; still ate like she didn't know when her next meal was coming.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone! It's been a while huh?**

**Sorry for the lack of updates but I've been super busy recently with work. I'm working as much as I can on the run up to Christmas mainly because I'll be away for the Christmas week with my family plus my dad is taking my sister and I away again this year for our birthday. But here's a chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy it!**

**Thanks to everyone to faved and followed after the last chapter. And thanks to those who left comments. :) If you haven't done yet, please fave, follow and leave me a message! I'd like to know what you all think.**

**Peace – Deeny xxx**

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><p>'Jesus Delsin, how many have you got there?'<p>

Caterina gasped as she stared at the armful of parcels and boxes Delsin had piled up in his arms.

'Err thirteen. Yeah thirteen.'

Caterina had noticed that in the past few weeks Delsin had been putting a lot more effort in to selling his art and his photographs. Whatever he was doing, it appeared to be working. In just over two weeks he had managed to sell around fifty pieces; either oil paintings on canvas or large photographs all fully framed. None of his pieces sold below forty-five dollars so Delsin must have been raking in the cash. Caterina had to wonder about it, it was obvious he was up to something but she decided to let it slide for the time being. She had to go in to town to mail out Delsin's stuff as well as half a dozen pieces of her own.

The drive in to town wasn't so bad as the roads had been salted earlier that morning. Caterina still took her time though as the roads were still a bit slushy and the snow had been falling at a slow but steady rate. She had managed to find a spot outside the post office again as well as a large bag that had been shoved in to the centre glove-box of the truck. Caterina quickly shoved as many of the smaller packages she had in to the bag and settled with carrying some of the larger ones in her arms so she wouldn't have to take two trips in to the post office.

She was happy that she had managed to get out of there as quickly as she did thanks to another worker the called James who knew her and knew how much she usually brought in and how she liked everything posted. He also had help from a new girl working in the post office named Michelle who James told what to do with all of Caterina's packages should she ever have to serve her. It cost a small fortune to send everything but both Delsin and Caterina charged for postage so it wasn't so bad. Caterina left the post office still wondering what Delsin was up to. Normally in a week he would post roughly around seven to ten packages. But thirteen in one go today on the first of her usual bi-weekly trips in to town to post stuff was starting to puzzle her even more; especially after she counted up what Delsin had posted in the last few weeks.

* * *

><p>She hopped back in to the truck and started the engine to let it warm up for a few minutes before she set off to do her grocery shopping at the local high street and supermarket. Then she started mumbling to herself.<p>

'So he's had thirteen today and twenty-one last week… twenty-four the week before that.' Caterina muttered as she counted it all up in her head.

'That's a total of fifty-eight. If I say each one is roughly forty-five dollars…' Caterina continued to mumble to herself as she reached over to the trucks glove box and found a scrap of paper and a pen she always kept in there. She scribbled a few sums on the paper to figure out just how much Delsin may have made.

'That's just over twenty-six hundred bucks.'

Caterina sighed as she slumped back in to the driver's seat, still puzzled as to why Delsin was suddenly selling so much. The only reason why that she could think of, was that it would be Christmas in a month and maybe he was going on a gift buying binge.

She shook her head in an attempt to physically shake the thoughts out of her mind. She pulled the truck out on to the road and made her way over to the supermarket. Caterina parked as close to the store as possible and made her way inside, grabbing a cart on the way. She had a big shopping list she had written earlier on in her jacket pocket which she pulled out and scanned briefly to see where she had to head first.

It was nearly Thanksgiving. Caterina had questioned Delsin about it a few weeks back on if his tribe celebrated it or not as she knew a lot of Native tribes didn't. He confirmed it all for and gave her answers. No the Akomish didn't celebrate Thanksgiving as such but a lot of the tribe who worked were given the day off like everybody else so they took the opportunity to get everyone together in the Longhouse to eat, drink and be merry as well as remembering their ancestors. Everybody brought food and drink along to share and even though Caterina was an outsider; she was invited. Caterina had said that she would bring along some deserts; Finnish recipes that her mother had taught her which gained a lot of interest as many women of the tribe were curious to know what she was bringing.

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><p>Caterina had bought what she could at the supermarket; basically all her cleaning products, some snacks and some frozen food like pizza and ice cream along with a crate of beer, a bottle of whisky, vodka and a few large bottles of cola and lemonade. After she had bought it all and loaded it in to her truck, Caterina made her way round to the town's main street. She went in to the British shop and bought loads of goodies from back home like she did every week along with some new things that Delsin hadn't tried yet. She bought all of the meat she needed from the butchers shop then excitedly made her way to the greengrocers. A week before she had asked the owner of the grocers if he could find her some Lingonberries and he had as they were never a thing he usually stocked.<p>

Caterina burst out of the shop with a huge smile on her face and a massive bag full of Lingonberries which she was going to use to make Puolukkapiirakka; Lingonberry Pie. She had also bought loads of blueberries too which she was going to use to make Mustikkapulla which are blueberry buns, one of her favourite desserts she had when she was a child. She had to make plenty of everything and Delsin said he would help her the night before Thanksgiving as they would have a lot to do.  
>Caterina hurried home as fast as she could as she had bought a lot of frozen stuff and wanted to get it all in the freezer before it thawed out. She also wanted to get home as Betty had asked her the day before if she could go in to the cannery and help her with some office work, Caterina could at least get home and start making dinner for later before she went to see Betty. The snow had stopped so it made getting home a lot quicker for Caterina.<br>Delsin wasn't even in when she got back so she brought all of the shopping in by herself and put everything away; leaving out the things she needed for making dinner. As she was moving things off the kitchen counter top, Caterina found a piece of paper left at the side with a ball-point pen holding it down.

"_Cat, gone out taking photos. I'll be back in a while._ _-Del xx."_

'He's doing a lot of work, not like Delsin at all.' Caterina scoffed to herself as she read the note. She shook her head and finished putting all the groceries away before she made a start on dinner for tonight. Halfway through peeling a small bag of carrots, Cat heard a knock at the front door. She laid her peeler down and hurried over to open the door.

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><p>'Ah hi Betty. Come in.'<p>

'Thank you Caterina. Just thought I'd pop round for a little while, I needed to get out of that office for a little while.'

'I'll put the kettle on then. I take it you've had a long day?'

'It's been nothing but phone calls, orders and failing machinery. Enough to give you a migraine.'

Caterina flipped the kettle on then beckoned for Betty to take a seat at the kitchen table whilst she finished peeling the rest of the carrots. She had the other veggies prepared already and a joint of beef cooking slowly in the oven.

Betty always popped over for ten or fifteen minutes when she wanted to escape the cannery for a little while for a chat and a cup of tea with Caterina. The cannery had shut for the day but Betty still had loads of work to do. Caterina was always willing to help out whenever she could.

'Here we go.' Caterina said as she laid down a small tray on the table with cups, sugar, milk and a fresh pot of tea. She picked up the teapot and poured Betty the first cup.

'So we're gonna be sorting out the office are we?' Caterina asked. Betty nodded as she stirred a spoonful of sugar in to her tea along with a splash of milk.  
>'Yes, there's loads of paperwork that needs filing and a lot of the older things can be shredded. It's getting so cluttered in there.' Betty replied. She sipped at her tea as her eyes roam around the room.<p>

'Is Delsin out?'

'Yeah he's gone out again. Probably taking more pictures while the lights still good.'

Betty stared at Caterina for a few moments, noticing that she had a slight confused almost worried look on her face.

'Is everything okay Caterina?' Betty asked the young girl. She just smiled back at her and shook her head.

'Yes. Well, maybe. I'm not sure.' Caterina bit her lip. 'Delsin's up to something. He's really pushing for sales on his art at the moment. I don't even know how much he's exactly brought in over the past few weeks, but I think he's hoarding money for some reason.'

'He hasn't told you anything?'

'No not a thing. I mean I know it's coming up for Christmas soon but the amount of money he'll be drawing in is in the thousands. What it's for I don't know, it can't just be for Christmas presents alone. I'm beginning to not like surprises of any sort.'

Betty smiled at Caterina. 'I think that it's something you shouldn't worry about but be excited for! Perhaps Delsin is going to buy you a big present or maybe he's taking you away somewhere. You shouldn't overthink these things.'

Caterina broke out in to laughter.

'You know Betty, I never thought of it like that. I thought Delsin was planning to buy something really stupid like an extension on the house or a man-cave or if he had some massive loan to pay off or owed money to some dodgy folks.'

'Well dear I think you should start thinking a bit more positive.'

'I probably should. Every time my mother used to work every hour God sent the money usually went to paying off a huge credit card bill or other astronomical bills. I'm not used to dealing with huge sums of money in my family it was never around for too long.'

'I think you should look forward to whatever Delsin may be planning with this money he's saving. I genuinely think it is going to be a good surprise.' Betty reassured Caterina. 'Now let's finish our drinks and get my office cleaned up. That'll take your mind off it.' Betty grinned.

'I guess you're right. I suppose I better leave him a note.'

Caterina made her way back over to the note on the kitchen worktop that Delsin had left her. She turned the paper over and scrawled on the back of it.  
>'<em>Gone helping Betty with her office work. Back soon. Keep an eye on the meat in the oven!<em> _-Cat xxx'._


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys!**

**Here's another chapter for you. I'm going to try and do a few shorter chapters before I go away to tide you all over. Everything is pretty boring for Cat and Delsin at the moment but things will happen…**

**Thanks to hooray4natasha and Aki no Joo for the faves and follows!**

**Jason Grace son of zues: Thank you!  
>Dimension Distorter: Hahaha you may very well be right. :)<strong>

**Thanks for reading folks. Please fave, follow and leave a comment if you have a moment to spare! I can't wait to hear from you all!**

**Peace – Deeny xxxx**

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><p>Thanksgiving had gone down rather well on the Akomish Reserve. Everybody in the tribe including Caterina was there and everyone had a lovely time; finally getting the chance to be together to eat, drink and be merry. The Longhouse had been bustling with people helping out in the kitchen, setting up tables and putting up decorations. The children spent the day playing games whilst the adults got everything prepared and caught up with everyone. Speeches were made, food was shared and recipes were exchanged. Party games were played and everybody was up drinking and dancing later on in to the night. It was a highly enjoyable day where everybody got to cut loose and forget about work for a little while and have some fun instead.<p>

Caterina was mainly happy at the fact that she could take her mind off Delsin and what he was up to for a little while, as well as being happy that everybody had enjoyed the food she had made for the day. She had spent most of the night before making several large lingonberry pies and several dozen blueberry buns which she eventually had to hide from Delsin; who wouldn't leave them alone and had eaten quite a few. She was however thankful that he was helping her bake so she didn't mind him having some of the blueberry buns, even if he did try to sneak a few for later.

That was a few days ago. Today was the day after Black Friday and Caterina had the house to herself as Delsin had gone in to town with yet more packages he had to post. She'd had enough of wondering what Delsin was up to, so she decided to clean the house to take her mind off it. Caterina did several loads of laundry, changed the bed linen in her and Delsin's room, went around with the vacuum cleaner and polished all of the furniture. She thought it had taken her a while to do it all but it had taken a lot less time. Not knowing what to do after her cleaning spree, Caterina decided she would have a soak in the bathtub and read a book for a while. She had taken to having a lot of baths recently as she was getting better with water; but she could still never bring herself to go swimming in the lake during the warmer months. Deep bodies of water still scared her a lot.

Caterina decided to get out of the tub after she had read a couple of chapters in her book and the skin on her feet had started to go crinkly. Because of her ice ability and her colder than usual body temperature, the water never stayed that hot for long so she would have to top it up a few times. She climbed out of the bath carefully and quickly grabbed her towel off the radiator and wrapped it around herself. Catarina's ears perked up as she heard the front door downstairs opening then closing.

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><p>'Cat! I'm home!'<p>

It was Delsin. Caterina quickly dried herself off then changed in to some comfy clothes before she made her way downstairs. Delsin had just come out of the studio and shut the door behind himself.

'I got those extra canvasses you wanted, they're on your desk.' Delsin smiled at Cat.

'Thanks for that.'

'Um, I think we'd better put the TV on. There's been another attack it came on the radio just before I got home.' Delsin continued talking as he wandered in to the kitchen and switched the kettle on to make some tea. Caterina shuffled over to the living room coffee table and grabbed the TV remote; turning it on then flicking to the nearest news channel.

Caterina gasped as she watched what was on screen. The channel was showing aerial footage of a large building which was billowing with smoke and flames.

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><p>'<em>And if you have just joined us now, you're seeing live footage from Warren, Michigan where the largest Conduit Outreach centre in the Midwest has suddenly exploded. Emergency services are trying to contain the fire in the building whilst police are attempting rescue and evacuate who they can from inside. Let's go to our reporter now on scene Joe Sutherland. What can you tell us so far Joe?'<em>

'_Thanks Amanda. Yes the explosions at the Warren Conduit Outreach centre, the headquarters in the Midwest of Conduit Outreach happened barely twenty minutes ago. Witnesses who were nearby when it occurred state that they felt the ground shudder and shake and the noise was deafening. The local police and fire service are trying to contain the fire and evacuate the building of any survivors as quickly as possible. This Conduit Outreach centre which provides accommodation, training and educational services to homeless Conduits can house up to one hundred residents at a time and has over forty members of staff. Authorities are trying to determine exactly how many people were in the building at the time of the explosion and how this turn of events came to be.'_

'It's those Human First arseholes isn't it? It has to be.' Caterina exclaimed. Delsin was nodding in agreement with her.

'It seems so. They've been upping their game recently with protests and attacks; on Conduit businesses, charities and on individuals as well.'

'Well I'm just waiting for one of our lot to retaliate.'

Delsin nodded. He handed Caterina a cup of tea that he had just made which she graciously accepted.

'That would take us right back to the start though.' Delsin added. 'We'd be hunted again.'

'And here's me thinking we could all get on with our lives as we should.' Cat shook her head. She carefully sipped her hot tea as she stared at the TV screen in the living room. Both she and Delsin were waiting on more information about the people inside, if any had managed to escape unscathed or if there were in fact any deaths or casualties.

Humans First had been declared as a terrorist group long ago but nothing ever seemed to be done about them. More and more humans were now getting caught in the crossfire; usually the humans who were involved with Conduits in some kind of way. Humans First had even said in their strange viral videos that Conduit Sympathizers were also the enemy as they were betraying their own kind. But anybody with a brain could see that they were all just plain stupid and they were murderers at the end of it all. It was only a matter of time before somebody retaliated; Human or Conduit. Their attacks affected everyone. Caterina and Delsin could only hope that a fellow Conduit ouldn't be the one to cast the first stone.


End file.
